Frequently Asked Questions - H2
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Who discovered hydrogen? Henry Cavendish (1731-1810) was an English chemist and physicist who spent several years studying the properties of hydrogen and carbon dioxide. In 1766 he discovered that hydrogen was a separate substance. He was the first chemist to produce water from hydrogen and oxygen. |
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Where does hydrogen come from? Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, and can be found in water, fossil fuels and other sources. It usually bonds with other elements to form commonly known molecules such as water, gasoline, methane (natural gas) and methanol. It is possible to get hydrogen by unlocking the chemical bonds in the molecules that form these substances - reforming natural gas or gasoline, gasifying coal or petroleum coke, or breaking the chemical bonds in water molecules through electrolysis. This last process involves the use of a catalyst and electricity. The electricity required could ultimately be obtained from solar, wind or other renewable sources. Source Shell |
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What are the properties of hydrogen? Hydrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless and nonpoisonous gas under normal conditions on earth. It typically exists as a diatomic molecule, meaning each molecule has two atoms of hydrogen-this is why pure hydrogen is commonly expressed as "H2". Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, accounting for 90 percent of the universe by weight. However, it is not commonly found in its pure form, since it readily combines with other elements. It is the lightest element, having a density of 0.09 grams per liter at standard pressure. Source Shell |
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Why is hydrogen used as a fuel? Hydrogen has the highest energy content per unit weight of any known fuel-52,000 Btu/lb (120.7 kJ/g). It burns cleanly and when burned with oxygen, the only byproducts are heat and water. The process of converting hydrogen to energy using engines or fuel cells is much more efficient than the comparable gasoline counterparts. Source NHA |
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How does hydrogen compare with other fuels like gasoline and diesel? Hydrogen can be totally nonpolluting (water is the exhaust). It can be economically competitive with gasoline or diesel. Hydrogen can be as safe as gasoline, diesel, or natural gas. It can help reduce our dependence on imported fuels as it can be produced in any country or locale from a variety of energy sources. Source NHA |
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How much hydrogen is consumed to produce 1 kWh of electricity using a PEM fuel cell? In general, to produce 1 kilowatt (kW) of electricity for 1 hour (one kilowatt-hour, kWh) from a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell requires about 25-27 standard cubic feet (scf) of hydrogen. A standard cubic foot (scf) is the amount of hydrogen that occupies one cubic foot of space when it is not pressurized (in other words, at regular atmospheric pressure) and at 60 degrees F (a little cooler than room temperature). Source Plug Power |
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What is the octane rating of hydrogen? Short answer: "130+" according to a study done by the College of the Desert and Sunline Transit Agency Sources |
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How is hydrogen produced? Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. However it is always bonded with something else like oxygen (to make water) or carbon (to make all plants). Hydrogen is all around us, but to use it, we must first separate the hydrogen from the other things bonded to it. One of hydrogen's advantages is that it can be made from a variety of local resources like water, plants, coal, natural gas and even algae. Although having so many choices sounds complicated, it's a great advantage because no one region or country has to be dependant on one resource. This means you can choose whichever resources make the most sense to make hydrogen, environmentally and economically.Another choice that you have when making hydrogen is how much you make. When we make most fuels today, it's best to make very large quantities in refineries. However, with hydrogen you can just as easily make very small amounts, enough for one camera or cell phone, or very large amounts that could supply an entire town.Today, in the U.S., over 95% of the hydrogen is made in very large quantities from natural gas, mostly to make fertilizer and to help make gasoline cleaner by removing impurities like sulphur. As hydrogen moves from these large industrial uses to something that you and I commonly use to fuel our businesses, homes, electronics and vehicles, we expect other resources besides natural gas to be used and that it will be made in a variety of amounts depending on how much is needed. Having this variety of choices when you make hydrogen is part of what makes hydrogen a universal fuel. Source NHA |
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What is the impact of using hydrogen as a fuel on the environment? The combustion of hydrogen does not produce carbon dioxide (CO2), particulate, or sulfur emissions. It can produce nitrous oxide (NOX) emissions under some conditions. Hydrogen can be produced from renewable resources, such as by reforming ethanol. Source Shell |
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Can the hydrogen economy be realized using nuclear power generation? The only large-scale source of carbon free electricity in the foreseeable future comes from nuclear generation. However, a recent Shell study has suggested that conversion from nuclear energy into electricity and via electrolysis to hydrogen or directly from nuclear energy via direct thermo-chemical splitting of water into hydrogen is not an efficient process. Better alternatives for hydrogen production seem to exist by converting fossil fuels into hydrogen and CO and to capture and sequester the CO2 underground. Source Shell |
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Why are fuel cells viewed as the ultimate clean-car technology when reforming emits carbon dioxide (stripping H2 from natural gas), the chief suspect in global-warming gas? Hydrogen produced from hydrocarbons will offer a significant reduction of emissions on a well to wheels basis. Fuel cell vehicles can also contribute to reducing noise pollution, a significant issue in urban areas. Source Shell |
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What about Greenhouse gas emissions? Greenhouse gases are thought to be responsible for changes in global climate. They trap excess heat from the sun's infrared radiation that would otherwise escape into space, much like a greenhouse is used to trap heat. When we drive our cars, and light, heat, and cool our homes, we generate greenhouse gases. But if we used hydrogen in very high efficiency fuel cells for our transportation and to generate power, we could significantly reduce the Greenhouse emissions - especially if the hydrogen is produced using renewable resources or clean fossil technologies. Source Shell |
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Will energy efficiency improve? Fuel cells are significantly more energy efficient than combustion-based power generation technologies. A conventional combustion-based power plant typically generates electricity at efficiencies of 33 to 35%, while fuel cell plants can generate electricity at efficiencies of up to 60%. When fuel cells are used to generate electricity and heat (co-generation), they can reach efficiencies of up to 85%. Internal-combustion engines in today's automobiles convert less than 30 percent of the energy in gasoline into power that moves the vehicle. Vehicles using electric motors powered by hydrogen fuel cells are much more energy efficient, utilizing 40-60% of the fuel's energy. Even Fuel Cell Vehicles (FCVs) that reform hydrogen from gasoline can use about 40 percent of the energy in the fuel. Source Shell |
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How long has HTC been working on hydrogen-related issues? HTC has been working on hydrogen-related issues since 2003. |
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What hydrogen projects is HTC currently involved in? HTC is currently in charge of designing, constructing and operating a state of the art hydrogen production facility at the University of Regina. The pilot plant is a multi-feedstock hydrogen production demonstration facility. |
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How HTC intends to produce and purify hydrogen? The demonstration plant has been designed to produce 1 kg/hr of high purity H2 by catalytic reforming of natural gas and oxygenated hydrocarbons followed by H2 separation via membrane technology. |
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What is the purpose of the HTC hydrogen demonstration facility? It is intended that the demonstration plant will validate the overall process technology and allow optimization of the process configuration and operating parameters prior to moving to a commercial scale. |
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How does the HTC hydrogen production technology differ from other available technologies? The CDRM is an innovative way to produce H2 from two potent greenhouse gases, CO2 and methane (CH4). This process is scalable compared to the conventional method of large scale hydrogen production - the steam reforming of natural gas. Because of its gaseous nature, H2 does not transport efficiently as it is costly to deliver in small amounts due to high compression and delivery costs, and it causes iron embrittlement if it is transported via unlined pipeline. Thus, small scale plants for CO2 reforming of natural gas to produce hydrogen can be economically viable when built and located near H2 users to avoid costly handling and distribution problems. |
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What about catalyst deactivation (i.e. performance decay) during hydrogen production process? Until recently, the major issue encountered in the application of CDRM process was the rapid deactivation of the nickel-based catalyst, mainly by carbon deposition. HTC has solved this problem by developing a stable Ni/CeO2-ZrO2 catalyst (UFR-M) for this process as well as improving the efficiency of a companion process (water gas shift reaction) via a new catalyst to convert the carbon monoxide obtained from the CDRM process to additional H2 in a membrane reactor. |
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How hydrogen is produced from biomass? Through the use of HTC's newly developed family of catalysts, HTC has been successful in having oxygenated hydrocarbons steam reformed on the catalysts and separated in the membrane reactor into H2 and CO2. The crude ethanol provides an eco-friendly technique to produce H2 from a biomass. Crude ethanol (i.e. fermentation broth) is a form of biomass, which is free of sulfur, has low toxicity, is safe to transport and store, and CO2 neutral. |
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How much has HTC invested in hydrogen? HTC has invested millions of dollars in hydrogen. |
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Doesn't it take too much energy to make hydrogen? Is it worth doing? Like all fuels, it takes energy to produce hydrogen and deliver it to a vehicle. The amount of energy required depends on how the hydrogen is made. Some methods require more energy than others.While it may take more energy to produce and deliver hydrogen than it takes to produce and deliver gasoline or natural gas, the hydrogen fuel is used more efficiently in hydrogen vehicles. Most hydrogen internal combustion engines (ICEs) are about 25% more efficient than their gasoline counterparts and fuel cells are 100-200% (2-3 times) more efficient. In many cases, the overall "well-to-wheels" energy usage can be much lower for hydrogen vehicles than for gasoline or natural gas vehicles using a conventional internal combustion engine. Source NHA |
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What is hydrogen used for? The world economy currently consumes about 42 million tons of hydrogen per year. Hydrogen applications include Source NHA |
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How much does hydrogen cost? The estimated costs for producing and delivering hydrogen to the fueling station using today's technologies vary from $2.10/gallon of gasoline equivalent (gge) to $9.10/gge. These hydrogen costs do not include highway taxes and do include the increased fuel efficiency of fuel cell vehicles compared to gasoline-powered hybrid electric vehicles. That is, the driver of a fuel cell vehicle would pay the same amount to travel 100 miles on hydrogen as the driver of a gasoline-powered hybrid electric vehicle would pay for gasoline if the price was between $2.10/gallon to $9.10/gallon to travel that same distance. Source National Academy of Engineering, "The Hydrogen Economy: Opportunities, Costs, Barriers, and R&D Needs"(2004) |
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Is hydrogen safe? Most fuels have high energy content and must be handled properly to be safe. Hydrogen is no different. In general, hydrogen is neither more nor less inherently hazardous than gasoline, propane (LPG), or methane (CNG). As with any fuel, safe handling depends on knowledge of its particular physical, chemical, and thermal properties and consideration of safe ways to accommodate those properties. Hydrogen, handled with this knowledge, is a safe fuel. Source NHA |
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Is hydrogen harmful to breathe? Accidentally breathing a small amount of hydrogen won't harm you. Hydrogen is non-toxic to humans, animals and the environment. Like other commonly-used gases, hydrogen displaces, or pushes away, oxygen. If the oxygen you were trying to breathe was displaced by so much hydrogen that you were breathing very little oxygen, problems could result. Since hydrogen disperses (rises and spreads out) very quickly, there's a very low risk of breathing too much. Source NHA |
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Did hydrogen cause the Hindenburg accident? No. The fire that destroyed the Hindenburg in 1937 gave hydrogen a misleading reputation. Hydrogen was used to keep the airship buoyant and was initially blamed for the disaster. An investigation by Addison Bain in the 1990s provided evidence that the airship's fabric envelope was coated with reactive chemicals, similar to solid rocket fuel, and was easily ignitable by an electrical discharge. The Zeppelin Company, builder of the Hindenburg, has since confirmed that the flammable, doped outer cover is to be blamed for the fire. Source NHA |
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How much energy does hydrogen produce? In general, to produce 1 kilowatt (kW) of electricity for 1 hour (one kilowatt-hour, kWh) from a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell requires about 25-27 standard cubic feet (scf) of hydrogen. A standard cubic foot (scf) is the amount of hydrogen that occupies one cubic foot of space when it is not pressurized (in other words, at regular atmospheric pressure) and at 60 degrees F (a little cooler than room temperature). Source Shell |
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How does hydrogen compare with other fuels like gasoline and diesel? * Hydrogen can be totally nonpolluting (water is the exhaust). |
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What is HTC's view of the potential for hydrogen? With its only local emission being water, the fuel cell has enormous potential to help cut the emission of greenhouse gases globally and improve local air quality. Hydrogen could also increase security of energy supply. We see hydrogen as an opportunity for growth and consider it as a preferred fuel in the longer term, initially mainly from natural gas and later increasingly from renewable energy sources. |